Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices 2)

For once Will was speechless. It was not a position he found himself in often, and he was forced to admit that he did not like it.

"Oh, leave him be, Woolsey," said a familiar voice from inside the house- Magnus, hurrying along the corridor. He was fastening his shirt cuffs as he came forward, and his hair was a thicket of mussed black tangles. "I told you Will would be coming by. "

Will looked from Magnus to Woolsey. Magnus was barefoot; so was the werewolf. Woolsey had a glimmering gold chain around his neck. From it hung a pendant that said Beati Bellicosi, "Blessed Are the Warriors. " Beneath it was an imprint of a wolfs paw. Scott noticed Will staring at it and grinned.

"Like what you see?" he inquired.

"Woolsey," said Magnus.

"Your note to me did have something to do with demon summoning, didnt it?" Will asked, looking at Magnus. "This isnt you . . . call ing in your favor, is it?"

Magnus shook his rumpled head. "No. This is business, nothing else.

Woolseys been kind enough to let me lodge with him while I decide what to do next. "

"I say we go to Rome," said Scott. "I adore Rome. "

"All well and fine, but first I need the use of a room. Preferably one with little or nothing in it. "

Scott removed his monocle and stared at Magnus. "And youre going to do what in this room?" His tone was more than suggestive.

"Summon the demon Marbas," said Magnus, flashing a grin.

Scott choked on his pipe smoke. "I suppose we all have our ideas about what constitutes an enjoyable evening . . . "

"Woolsey. " Magnus ran his hands through his rough black hair. "I hate to bring this up, but you do owe me. Hamburg? 1863?"

Scott threw his hands up. "Oh, very well. You may utilize my brothers room.

No ones used it since he died. Enjoy. Ill be in the drawing room with a glass of sherry and some rather naughty woodcuts I had imported from Romania. "

With that, he turned and padded off down the hall. Magnus gestured Will inside, and he entered gladly, the warmth of the house enveloping him like a blanket. Since there was no footman, he slid off his blue wool frock coat and draped it over his arm as Magnus watched him with a curious gaze. "Will," he said. "I see you wasted no time after you got my note. I wasnt expecting you until tomorrow. "

"You know what this means to me," said Will. "Did you really think Id delay?"

Magnuss eyes searched his face. "You are prepared," he said. "For this to fail? For the demon to be the incorrect one? For the summoning not to work?"

For a long moment Will could not move. He could see his own face in the mirror that hung by the door. He was horrified to see how raw he looked-as if there were no longer any wal between the world and his own hearts desires. "No," he said. "I am not prepared. "

Magnus shook his head. "Will. . . " He sighed. "Come with me. "

He turned with catlike grace and made his way down the hal and up the curving wooden steps. Will fol owed, up through the shadowed staircase, the thick Persian stair runner muffling his footsteps. Niches set back in the wal s contained polished marble statues of entwined bodies. Will looked away from them hastily, and then back. It wasnt as if Magnus seemed to be paying attention to what Will was doing, and hed honestly never imagined two people could get themselves into a position like that, much less make it look artistic.

They reached the second landing, and Magnus padded off down the corridor, opening doors as he went and muttering to himself. finally finding the correct room, he threw the door open and gestured for Will to fol ow him.

The bedroom of Woolsey Scotts dead brother was dark and cold, and the air smelled of dust. Automatical y Will fumbled for his witchlight, but Magnus waved a dismissing hand at him, blue fire sparking from his fingertips. A fire roared up suddenly in the grate, lighting the room. It was furnished, though everything had been draped with white cloths-the bed, the wardrobe and dressers. As Magnus stalked through the room, rol ing up his shirtsleeves and gesturing with his hands, the furniture began to slide back from the center of the room. The bed swung around and lay flat against the wal ; the chairs and bureaus and washstand flew into the corners of the room.

Will whistled. Magnus grinned. "Easily impressed," Magnus said, though he sounded slightly out of breath. He knelt down in the now denuded center of the room and hastily drew a pentagram. In each point of the occult symbol, he scrawled a rune, though none were runes Will knew from the Gray Book.

Magnus raised his arms and held them out over the star; he began to chant, and gashes opened up in his wrists, spil ing blood into the pentagrams center. Will tensed as the blood struck the floor and began to burn with an eerie blue glow. Magnus backed out of the pentagram, still chanting, reached into his pocket, and produced the demons tooth. As Will watched, Magnus tossed it into the now flaming center of the star.

For a moment nothing happened. Then, out of the burning heart of the fire, a dark shape began to take form. Magnus had stopped chanting; he stood, his narrowed eyes focused on the pentagram and what was happening within it, the gashes on his arms closing swiftly. There was little sound in the room, just the crackle of the fire and Will s harsh breathing, loud in his own ears, as the dark shape grew in size-coalesced, and, final y, took a solid, recognizable shape.

It was the blue demon from the party, no longer dressed in evening wear.

Its body was covered in overlapping blue scales, and a long yel owish tail with a stinger on the end switched back and forth behind it. The demon looked from Magnus to Will, its scarlet eyes narrowed.

"Who summons the demon Marbas?" it demanded in a voice that sounded as if its words were echoing from the bottom of a well.

Magnus jerked his chin toward the pentagram. The message was clear: This was Will s business now.

Will took a step forward. "You dont remember me?"

"I remember you," the demon growled. "You chased me through the grounds of the Lightwood country house. You tore out one of my teeth. " It opened its mouth, showing the gap. "I tasted your blood. " Its voice was a hiss. "When I escape this pentagram, I will taste it again, Nephilim. "

"No. " Will stood his ground. "Im asking you if you remember me. "

The demon was silent. Its eyes, dancing with fire, were unreadable.

"Five years ago," said Will. "A box. A Pyxis. I opened it, and you emerged.

We were in my fathers library. You attacked, but my sister fended you off with a seraph blade. Do you recollect me now?"

There was a long, long silence. Magnus kept his cats eyes fixed on the demon. There was an implied threat in them, one that Will couldnt read.

"Speak the truth," Magnus said final y. "Or it Will go badly for you, Marbas. "

The demons head swung toward Will. "You," it said reluctantly. "You are that boy. Edmund Herondales son. "

Will sucked in a breath. He felt suddenly light-headed, as if he were going to pass out. He dug his nails into his palms, hard, gashing the skin, letting the pain clear his head. "You remember. "